


Our souls are all we own before we turn to stone

by cherylmarjorieblossom



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: A rescues B from the underworld or afterlife, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Character A gets angry at Character B's tendency to self-sacrifice, F/M, Rescue, Time Travel to Save Friend or Loved One
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:01:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24174760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherylmarjorieblossom/pseuds/cherylmarjorieblossom
Summary: It was never meant to end this way; with Steve here and Natasha gone.It wasn’t right; it wasn’t what they had planned.He felt empty; like a part of him, a part of his heart, was missing, and the thought of never seeing her again was so painful that he had run out of tears after a few days.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov
Comments: 3
Kudos: 57
Collections: Hurt Comfort Exchange 2020





	Our souls are all we own before we turn to stone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Prix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prix/gifts).



It was never meant to end this way; with Steve here and Natasha gone.

It wasn’t right; it wasn’t what they had planned.

They were supposed to go grab some beers once all of this was over; after saving the universe one last time.

He felt empty; like a part of him, a part of his heart, was missing. He didn’t tell her everything; he didn’t tell her how he really felt about her, and the thought of never seeing her again was so painful that he had run out of tears after a few days.

He thought all hope was lost until they asked him to return the Infinity Stones back to their own timelines, just like Bruce had promised the Ancient One he would. He knew it was risky, which is why he didn’t tell the others about his plan, but the risk was worth it if it meant having her back; if it meant bringing her home.

\-----

The first stop in his journey was Morag. The planet was uninhabitable, so it didn’t take him more than a few minutes to get the Power Stone back where it belonged. According to the original timeline, Peter Quill would arrive in a few hours, which meant everything needed to be in the right place at the right time.

Next was Asgard and the Reality Stone, as well as Thor’s Mjölnir. He had to be more careful here because he couldn’t be seen by Asgardians, so it took him a little longer than what he had expected, but in the end he left the stone back to its original place without a problem before doing the same with the magical hammer. If he was being honest with himself, he was going to miss it.

The Battle of New York was the following destination. There, he would have to leave both the Time and Mind Stones, but it was a tricky mission because they had been retrieved at different locations, so he had to move from one point to another to success, all while trying not to be spotted by his old self and those of his friends. First he took the Time Stone back to the Ancient One, who was already waiting for him, before going to the Avengers Tower and leaving the Mind Stone in the right place to be collected by the undercover HYDRA agents.

Going back to 1970 New Jersey was hard on a very personal level because he knew he could run into Peggy, and as much as he would have loved to stay and catch up with a younger version of her, a version who wasn’t bound to a bed most of the time, he knew he couldn’t. He was a man on a mission, and that mission didn’t include spending time with his first love. He had to get to Natasha, that was his real goal, so he slipped into the base as fast as he could, making sure not to be seen by the guards, and left the Space Stone where it had been hidden originally.

Vormir was deserted when he arrived. He really didn’t know what he was expecting, but it was definitely not this. Clint had told him that the Soul Stone had just appeared after Natasha sacrificed herself, so he honestly had no idea of where he was supposed to leave it or where it belonged. He looked around, trying to spot a special place where the stone could reside, but after not finding anything, he decided to follow his gut and just throw it to the nothingness visible from the cliff he was standing at. He heard it, more than saw it, land somewhere down below, and it didn’t take long before everything around him became as bright as the sun, blinding his vision and clouding his mind.

When everything went back to normal, he saw her. She was already looking at him by the time he finally spotted her, and the mere sight of her made his heart race and his hands sweat. He had missed her dearly.

He wasn’t sure if he had run to her or if it had been the other way around; all he knew was that one second he was looking at her and the next one he was embracing her small frame with his, her arms wrapping around his waist so tightly that if he were a mere human, he would be having difficulty breathing. His arms tightened around her shoulders, and it wasn’t until he heard her sobbing against his chest that he realized that he was crying as well.

He pressed kisses to her head, her temple, her cheeks, everywhere he could reach with her face still buried in his chest, and when their tears subsided, he pushed her back just enough to cup the side of her neck and bring her lips to his. This was nothing like their first kiss all those years ago. This kiss was filled with so much love that his heart felt like it wanted to explode. He could taste the build up to this moment on her lips; the late night talks about their past, present and future, the days spent in shitty motel rooms in the middle of nowhere when they were running from the law, the early mornings going for a run and then cooking breakfast together after taking turns in the shower, the banter while she tried to teach him anything that he had missed while he was in the ice, the trust and the assurance of having a partner that would do anything for you; a friendship that turned into love over the years.

Her cheeks felt warm and damp against his because of her tears, and her lips were so soft that he was afraid that she wasn’t even real and he was imagining her, but when she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to slip her tongue inside his mouth he knew she was real.

She was here. She was alive.

They finally broke apart when their lungs asked for oxygen, but their foreheads remained pressed against each other, their breathings so close that you couldn’t tell where his started and hers ended.

“You came back for me,” was the first thing she said as her eyes filled with tears once again, overcome with emotions at the thought of him caring enough about her to do everything in his power to bring her back from the dead. “Does this mean that the war is over? Does this mean that we won?”

He nodded, and the confirmation to her inquiries made her smile brightly.

“I’m so mad at you,” he murmured as a frown started to form between his eyebrows.

“Why?”

“Because I lost you! Why did you do that? Why did you sacrifice yourself without a second thought?” he asked in a firm tone as he pulled away from her some more, but his arms remained wrapped around her waist.

“Because I didn’t have anything to lose. I didn’t have a family to leave behind like Clint did. I didn’t—”

“You had me! I’m your family and you left me!” he said a little louder, a few frustrated tears spilling from his eyes once more.

She caressed his cheeks with her thumbs and brushed the tears away, his features softening immediately at the contact.

“I know that now. I’m sorry for not realizing it earlier, but I’m back and I’m not going anywhere; I promise,” she pulled his face closer to hers once again so they could go back to their original position with their foreheads touching and he brushed his nose against hers for a few seconds before reconnecting their lips in a soft kiss.

“I love you, Nat,” he whispered loud enough for her to hear against her lips, not wanting to wait any longer to confess his feelings for her, and felt her smiling into the kiss, which he assumed was a good sign.

“I love you too, Steve,” she whispered back as she finalized the kiss, not before leaving a soft peck on his jawline. “Take me home.”

She didn’t have to ask him twice.

\-----

It didn’t take Natasha long to get back to her old self after Steve returned them to the present. To say that their friends were happy and relieved to have her back was an understatement, but the news about Tony hit her hard, and she needed a few days to grief.

The combination of her loss and her own death made her get a new perspective about life. She didn’t use to appreciate the small moments that presented to her daily, but now she enjoyed them to their fullest, and what she had been enjoying the most was spending time with Steve.

Their love confession had put them in a weird place in their relationship because they hadn’t officially decided what they were, but the Captain had been taking her out on dates whenever he felt like it, including finally going for those beers they had planned all those years ago, and they had been stealing kisses and holding hands when no one was watching.

She had never been one for labels, and she was sure Steve knew that and that’s why he hadn’t made his move, but she felt like he was the perfect person for her to finally commit. They were already best friends who were in love with each other, so a formal relationship wouldn’t change much besides being exclusive and allowing her to finally get her way with him.

They were sparring when she brought it up. She had her legs wrapped around his neck as they rolled on the floor and she tried to get him to surrender, but he got the upper hand, as he always did, and flipped them over so he was the one behind her with his legs around her small frame and his arms wrapped around her shoulders to immobilize her.

“I think we should date,” she said in the middle of their little fight, the shock of her comment making him loose his grip on her, which helped her to get the upper hand and flip them once more until he was on his back and she was on top of him with his arms pinned to the training mattress.

“Are you serious?” he asked, his eyes filled with curiosity but also hope, warming her heart.

“As serious as death,” she promised. She had been making death related puns and jokes since coming back, a way to deal with what had happened to her, and he was already used to it.

“Okay,” he simply replied, a lovestruck smile on his face that remained in place as she connected her lips with his in a loving kiss that got heated after a few minutes.

She ended their makeout session when her arms got tired of supporting her own weight, but not before pressing a soft kiss to his cheek.

“I’m going to take a shower. Care to join me, Captain?” she asked playfully once she was back on her feet, and she could have sworn she had never seen him stand up so fast in her life.

“Yes, ma’am,” he nodded quickly, taking their gym bags before jogging to the door to hold it open for her, and she had to laugh at the goofy smile on his face. Who would have thought that Stever Rogers would be so eager at the idea of having sex?

Maybe being in a committed and loving relationship had its perks, after all.

Or maybe it only did when it was them.

It was never meant to end this way, and it definitely wasn’t what they had planned, but she wouldn’t change it for anything because it had brought them here:

Together at last.


End file.
